1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to transport equipment for carrying out banking services between a teller located inside a bank and a customer at a remote drive-up station visible to the teller. More particularly the invention relates to a heavy-duty railway transport construction for carrying out banking transactions of a commercial nature involving the movement between teller and customer terminals of heavy and bulky banking material loads. Further, the invention relates to such a heavy-duty banking material transport system in which the banking materials are moved in a large, generally rectangular boxlike open top container between the teller and customer terminals.
Also, the invention relates to equipment which locates such a container in differently oriented positions readily accessible to a teller at the teller terminal when a normally closed door for the terminal is opened, and similarly locates the container in a readily accessible position for access by a motorist customer as the customer terminal door is opened.
Also, the invention relates to such transport equipment wherein the teller and customer access opening doors are automatically opened upon arrival of the transport container at either of the terminals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of pneumatic tube systems to carry out banking transactions for individuals has been popular. Such systems frequently include conveyor tubes in which carriers are moved rapidly by air pressure or vacuum through the tubes between teller and customer terminals. Usually the carriers are removable at the terminals for ease in loading or unloading into or out of the carrier, banking material for the banking transaction or operation being carried out. The customer terminal in such systems is remote from the teller terminal and the teller controlling the operation located inside of a bank. The teller has visual and audio communication with a motorist customer usually seated in an automobile at a drive-up station where the customer terminal is located. There may be a plurality of customer terminals spaced apart but served by a single teller.
A typical system of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,059,246. However, such systems have limitations as to the bulk of and weight of banking materials to be transported between the terminals in normally standard 4 1/2" or 4".times.7" pneumatic tube carriers.
Typical banking transactions of a commercial nature require much larger containers for bulky documents and heavy coin to be moved between the terminals, which may involve loads of up to 25 or more pounds.
Transport containers for carrying out such commercial type banking transactions, for efficient and readily accessible use, both visibly and manually, by both the customer and the teller should have a large top opening that can be positioned conveniently close (when the customer or teller terminal is open) to a motorist customer in an automobile adjacent the customer terminal, as well as close to a teller usually standing in front of the teller terminal at a teller station which may have several teller terminals located close together served by a single teller.
An interior railway transport system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,537 in which bulky and heavy materials may be moved from place to place in a container having a pivotally opened top lid, maintained upright and supported on a car which is selfpropelled by a motor carried by the car along a track system having horizontal and vertical track runs with bends or curves between such runs, and also having inside and outside corner bends or curves between horizontal track runs.
Such a railway track system is readily adapted for moving a heavily loaded container from a bank interior underground to a remote drive-up customer station. However, this known railway transport system has no normally closed terminal components which can protect banking materials in a transport container say 7 1/2".times.10 1/2".times.12" with an open top. Further, such prior system has no terminals with access openings through which transport container with large top openings may be exposed for convenient view to and reach by a teller standing at a teller station where several similar teller stations are located, or positioned for convenient access by a motorist customer seated in an automobile adjacent a customer terminal.
Accordingly, there is an existing need in the remote banking drive-up field for a heavy-duty transport system and construction which can accommodate the requirements of commercial type banking transactions which involve moving heavy and bulky banking material loads between teller and customer terminals, and presenting the banking materials to a customer or teller through a readily accessible wide-open top transport container at a customer or teller terminal access opening.